As long as you've learned to love in the end
by Eleonoor
Summary: I didn't really like the last episodes of Dark Angel and re-wrote them a bit. I'm a huge Max/Alec fan, but I'll be nice to Logan, promise. Alec and Max are growing closer and closer, untill Alec does the one thing that might pull them apart again.
1. Chapter 1

Since I hated the last episode of Dark Angel, and some parts of Love among the Runes, I decided to re-write the bits that bothered me, and pick up the story from there. The thing with the infra-red camera's never happened, simply because it is just way too far fetched for them to only discover those now, and not months or years ago. Plus, it's impractical if Max, Alec and co. want to keep living their lives… Obviously now Biggs never dies either, because they never figure out what he is. Also, I changed Alec's history quite a bit. He's my favourite character on the show. (The Looks, The Talk, The Walk!) I felt they never quite did him justice on the show and I might be slightly overcompensating for that here…

I'd really, really appreciate feedback! This is my first fic and I'd love to know what you guys think.

This first chapter is just a teaser.

* * *

**Chapter one.**

Alec an Max were facing each other. Strangely it looked nothing like a man and a woman facing one another. Anyone in the room could see that this was a clash of the Titans.

"Max, I will tell you one more time. Logan leaves, immediately" Alec's voice was low, like a growl. It held a threat that was loud and clear, but just so she didn't understand him he added. "Now he leaves on his own or you go with him, but he will never be welcome in Terminal City again."

Never once did Alec actually look at Logan, who was, quite frank, more than wiling to leave immediately. Instead the X-5 looked at the woman he loved and prayed to god she would forgive him for what he was doing.

"He'll be killed if he goes out there alone!" Max was furious and she didn't hide it. Who the hell did Alec think he was!? Kicking her out of her own city! She mentally berated herself for this thought: His city. Terminal City was his now. Absolutely and completely.

"I don't care." Max heard Alec say and she met his eyes again." He betrayed us. I think under the circumstances we're being mild."

"Alec…" A hint of desperation now shone through.

"If you care so much about whether he lives or dies, Max, I suggest you _do_ go with him, and I suggest you leave now."

She stared at him dumbfounded. Was he kicking her out too?

"No. Logan isn't going anywhere." Max defied Alec, and instantly saw that this was a mistake. It'd been a while since she'd last seen him, but 494 was back and he was angry.

"Mole, Cece, Boy…" The X-5 known as 494 called out. "Escort mister Cale out of the city. 452 can join him if she wishes. He can leave through the tunnel at the west entry. I do not want him to be seen by outsiders. Make sure he safely arrives at his house." He then turned to Max. "452. If you leave now I will personally kill you if you ever return here."

_Please forgive me Max._

He looked at Mole, who hadn't moved yet and ordered a final: "Go."

Without question the four of them forcefully shoved Logan towards the door.

No one left in the room uttered a sound.

494 didn't show a hint of emotion, but Alec's heart broke when he saw Max follow Logan and reach for his gloveless hand.

**4**** months before…**

It was a usual Friday night at crash. Most of the Seattle residents were free for the weekend, and were living it up in the pub. The music was loud, almost to the point of being annoying. The beer was good, but it clearly wasn't pre-Pulse. The men and woman were scouting for someone to have a good time with and in the midst of all that Original Cindy was trying (and failing) to cheer up a broody Max Guevera. They were seated at a table on a podium, a little higher up, overlooking most of the pub. Max had already finished two beers, and had started on the third while OC had barely touched her second one.

"Boo, what's on your mind?"

Max sighed and OC knew her friend was in one of her "the world is against me" moods. She decided to be straightforward with Max. "Boo, You made a choice, you wanna let Logan go, you let him go."

"It's just too dangerous to be around him… He might die because of me."

"That man's always busy savin' the world. He might die cos a that." Cindy wasn't in a mood to dance around what she wanted to say. "Without you he woulda found a way to get in danger too."

Max knew Cindy was right. Logan had been neck-deep in trouble long before meeting her. Heck, Eyes Only was one of the most wanted men in the city, cops were always trying to hack into his system, figuring out new ways to track him down. Likewise he was always finding new ways to piss off the authorities. Max hadn't known this about him when she'd first met him. She'd thought he was just like any other rich guy. His knowledge of Manticore and who she was had quickly informed her Logan wasn't much like anybody else she'd ever met. It had still, however, been the certain degree of normalcy that had attracted her to him at first. Logan was human. No cat, shark, dog or lizard DNA anywhere in sight. He'd had one mom, and one dad. No tubes or designers or scientists had been involved in his birth. Nothing about him had been designed by anyone and in spite of that he was still an impressive personality. Max loved how smart he was, the knowledge that he simply shook out of his sleeve at every turn. She loved the fact that he fought for the less fortunate of this earth. She really loved that willingness to always fight the good fight. She truly did love Logan. But lately something had changed. Max had been getting more and more involved in working with (What she still stubbornly refused to call) 'Her Kind'. She'd met many other X series and even Nomolies and somehow, somewhere a realisation was growing:

Max was nothing like Logan. She was an all together different breed.

She remembered Alec's bitter words: "We don't belong with them".

More and more Max started to believe that maybe he was right. Maybe there were too many differences between Humans and Transgenics for a real relationship to work. But still… part of her desperately longed for the white-picket fence and two point three kids. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that with another transgenic she'd never have that life.

"Boo?" Original Cindy's lightly irritated voice snapped her out of her musing.

"I just wish Alec didn't have to go and tell Logan." She said, just as the X5 himself strolled in with his usual swagger.

In spite of her transgenic senses she didn't notice. Not even when almost all the women Alec passed by unconsciously turned their bodies towards him.

Alec by now was so used to the reaction (almost all) women had on him he didn't notice either. He did notice Max. As usual, without even trying he smelled her before he'd even opened the entrance door. He would know she was near from anywhere within a quarter of a mile radius. Unlike usual he didn't think about it much. He was still pre-occupied with the worlds Logan had said.

* Just treat her right. *

Those words had made him think.

Think about Max, and the way that he had treated her in the past, the way he would in the future.

In honesty there was no way he was going to turn his back on Max, not ever, no way. She was everything he had.

Alec hated the way Max thought of all the other Transgenics as 'Family' but it really was the closest description of what _she_ meant to _him_.

From the very first moment he met her she'd been a mystery to him. One he really wanted to figure out...

At first, back at Manticore, she'd represented everything he was taught to fear: The Outside World and disobedience being the scariest things about her...

Sure, he'd never really followed _all_ the rules Manticore had for their soldiers but he'd kept his head down, and had done what he was told. Had killed people whenever ordered to. The way he'd looked at it: These people were dead either way, it was probably best to be killed by someone who knew what he was doing. Alec, at the time still 494, always killed with mercy. He did it quick and painless, trying not to hurt his victims. There was no philosophy behind that, no deeper meaning, it was just easier because it was quicker, more clean. And it helped not to have to watch them suffer

Obviously 494's moral code had been, well, lacking when he'd met Max. She had slowly but surely taught him how to be human, how to think human.

Max hadn't just named him. She'd turned him into the man he was today. She and dog-boy, they had been the key ingredients to his transformation from X5-494 to Alec McDowell.

And even though sometimes being Alec was hard on him, he would forever remain thankful to Max.

Forever thankful, and forever loyal.

That is why he hadn't corrected Logan in his assumption that Alec was _exactly_ 'the kind of guy to steel another man's girl'.

If Max thought life would be easier away from Logan, and if she needed an excuse to stay gone, who was he to judge?

He'd decided to screw his integrity and play along.

Anything for Maxie….

He approached the table where Max and Original Cindy were seated and (courtesy of transgenic hearing) caught a bit of what they were saying.

"It had to come out sooner or later." He heard OC tell Max, who answered with a resigned "Yeah, I guess so…"

He walked up to them with a casual trod, but his eyes showed a hint of anxiety. He paused when OC got up and told him: "Don't make her feel any worse than she already does."

He hid is amusement at the hidden treat in these worlds, _as if_ Cindy could actually hurt _him_. In truth, though, he'd probably let her hit him over the head as easily as he let Max. He had a soft spot for this not-so-ordinary human. He sat down in Original Cindy's seat as she walked off.

He waited for Max to acknowledge his presence.

"So you're gonna tell me what happened?" She asked him, stress obvious in her voice.

"I didn't say anything." He shot the words at her, trying to show how angry he still was (or wanted to be) at her.

"Thanks…" She said softly. "Why'd you change your mind?"

"Cos you're right, I mean you had to say something. Only you didn't push him away. I'm not sure what could… He let go, cos he wanted you to be happy."

Max looked heartbroken, but somehow less so than he had expected.

"Now don't start crying on me" he said half serious, half joke. "Cos he said I had to take care of you."

They fell silent for a moment, both lost in thought. Alec's mind was wandering back to Manticore, to when he first entered Max's cell.

"But Maxie, I gotta ask you, please don't pull a stunt like this again. I felt like I'd _actually_ stolen you from him… He and I aren't exactly friends but he's a good guy, and I felt guilty…"

"Thank you, Alec." Max looked directly at him and neither of them spoke while they were trying to figure each other out.

They sat there for at least a minute, just staring at each other.

Max was trying to see Ben in his face, and couldn't find a trace of her brother. Sure, they looked the same. But the calm, cocky and sarcastic look in Alec's eyes was nothing like the pain and anguish she'd seen in Ben's. Max realised that it had been a very long time since she had last thought of Alec as anything other than "Alec, her friend and partner in crime".

Alec saw Max was looking for something in his eyes. He calmly stared back at her, wondering what it was she tried to see. He in his turn looked for the sadness he had come to expect in her chocolate brown Bambi eyes. There was a hint of melancholy there. She was sad for losing Logan, but it wasn't quite as bad as he expected.

"Anything for a friend." Alec finally answered after a long minute. He shrugged and smirked at her. "So you're expecting me to keep up the charade then?" He asked her.

"If you don't mind… it's just easier for me this way…" Max rarely showed weakness, so he just nodded in acceptance and decided to move on: "I don't know about you, Maxie, but I could do with a drink right around now." He casually reached out for her almost empty cup and his hand froze mid air.

Alec tried to sound casual, tried to make a joke, but his heart rate went up and there was a sense of distress in his voice when he asked her: "What's that? Your barcode's not enough, you're getting tattoos now?"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her wrist closer to his eyes, very aware of the panicked look in Max's when she saw the tattoo's.

"Oh, my god." Max exclaimed, informing Alec that she, as he expected, had no idea what they where or how they got on her skin.

"What the hell are they?!" He asked her anyway.

"I don't know." Max said panicked, looking to him for an explanation.

"Hate to bring his name up, really, but do you think Logan might know what they are? Alec asked.

"I don't wanna see him." Max said, not leaving any room for negotiation.

Alec presented Max with an easy solution in a second: "So we go to TC and show him through a webcam."


	2. Chapter 2

In the last few weeks the Command Centre of Terminal city had become the standard hangout for many of the Transgenics. Mole was _always_ there, usually complaining about something or other, always accompanied by his shotgun, cigar in place. Luke was always busy putting some equipment together, and keeping a tap out to the rest of the world. Dix was usually there too, he just helped out where he could. Josh had decided that it might actually be a good idea to give the place a lick of paint, so he too was always around somewhere, with white and grey paint.

Max and Alec where there whenever they could so no-one looked up when they came in, until they asked someone to help them with the web-cam.

Max had either never noticed or never cared how everyone stood just a little straighter whenever Alec was in the room. He asked for some help with a camera and a second later three transgenics swarmed in to help. Alec turned to Luke for help, and said a simple "Thanks, we got it from here." to the others, who then immediately left.

Once Luke had set them up Alec took the webcam (Max suspected so that he would stay out of Logan's viewpoint.) and showed Logan the marks on Max's skin.

"Huh." The man said, frustrating Max.

""Huh" as in, "Strange, but I know exactly what it is, huh," or "Huh, what the hell is going on?"" Max seemed to be taking her stress out on him, but as usual he didn't notice and calmly answered: "Closer to the second one. So they just popped up? You didn't do anything...come into contact with anyone...drink anything?"

Alec could feel the tension building in Max, and he almost felt sorry for Logan, especially when she sarcastically said: "Yeah. I drank a bottle of something that said "Tattoos From Within." Was that wrong?"

Before Logan could say anything Alec took her hand an forced her to look at him, 'accidentally' putting the camera down in an angle that made sure Logan saw everything he did.

"Maxie, relax. No need to take it out on Logan, this isn't his fault." He said, while holding her face close to his. He could feel the split second where she wanted to pull back, but she realised what he was doing just in time to act along.

"Sorry." She said while leaning her forehead against his. Alec knew without a doubt he was the only one who could see that what he did had pissed her off a bit, everyone else was buying their act. The men in the room looked disappointed at the realisation that Max was taken, but the fact that Alec was spoken for seemed to break all the girls hearts. As usual, like anything related to Alec, Max didn't notice. "It's just freaking me out." She said in a sweet voice, and she put her hand on Alec's chest casually.

He in turn decided they would still need Logan's help, so completely driving the man crazy might not be such a good idea.

"Logan." He said, stepping away from Max and turning the camera back on her wrists. "You got any clue what they might be?"

Logan looked like he'd just been run over by a truck, but he recuperated pretty fast and answered with a fairly even voice. "They look a little like the symbol on Joshua's medallion. Maybe they're like your barcode--some sort of genetically-encoded imprint, designed to appear on your skin at a given time."

Max looked up alarmed: "What for and why now?"

"I don't know, maybe it's a message." Logan suggested.

"From who?" Max voiced what Alec was thinking.

Josh seemed to have the answer: "Father."

Alec, who was positively freaking out now, didn't want to upset her more and got out of Max's way while she stayed and made sure every one of these new "tattoos" was photographed before they vanished again. After the initial shock Alec decided he was not going to accept anything less than full and absolute knowledge of these tattoos or whatever they were. He did something he'd never voluntarily done in his life: He went to the library. Of course on a Friday night as late as this the library was closed, but that didn't exactly stop him from finding every single book the place had on runes and ancient symbols. He brought them to his house and started digging.

The first few books were useless. Nothing in them had any link to Max's runes. Alec kept looking for hours, didn't sleep and around 6:30 in the morning he got a call from Max.

"Yeah." He answered casually, though getting a call from Max usually meant she needed his help.

"Hey, there's someone in TC, says you asked him to come there."

"Really." Alec said while he got up and grabbed his jacket, it was time to head back to Terminal City, whoever this guy was. "What's his name."

"Jason Leech."

Alec froze.

Leech.

Shit. He had to get over there. Now!

"Leave him to me." He ordered. "I'm right there." And he hung up without waiting for a reply.

Alec stormed into Terminal City half and hour later. He didn't look at anyone but just barked an order into the room. "Get me Leech."

He didn't wait for a reply, but simply walked into his makeshift office, leaving the door open. Almost immediately Max walked through that same door with a man in tow, She planted him in one of the chairs there and sat on the desk, practically on Alec's lap, herself.

"What the hell is this about?" She asked, waving her hand towards Baker.

"Max, could you leave me with Mister Leech for a minute?" Alec asked nicely enough but then added. "It's personal, and I really don't need you here." His tone told her something less polite: _Leave now, or I'll make you._

"Fine" she said to his amazement. "But I'd like to know what's going on eventually." With that she hopped off the desk and sauntered out of the office.

Jason Leech stared at Alec for a moment, looking at the X-5 as he followed Max and closed the door behind her. After a moment he asked: "So would I. Why am I here?"

Alec looked at the man in front of him. He had Irish roots, The surname and his appearance told him that.. Leech had black hair. Piercing blue eyes that were half hidden behind big glasses. He was skinny which he tried to hide with a big patted jacket.

"You are here…" Alec started. "To help my friend." He nodded towards the door. "Max, the woman you just met, and everyone you saw here… We were made in a lab in a place called…"

"Manticore." Leech cut in. "I know. It's pretty obvious." He didn't seem afraid, just curious. "What do you need me for? You have your own doctors I assume…"

Alec smiled. This guy was direct, unafraid and unflinching even though he obviously had at least an idea of who, or what, he was talking to. "We do have our own doctors, yes, but none of them can cure this…" He whipped out a folder and pulled out the papers. He gave them to the doc.

For a moment it was silent while the doctor tried to figure out what he was looking at. After a minute or two he looked back up at Alec. Somehow there was a glint of excitement in his eyes. "This is pretty sophisticated stuff." He shook his head. "I don't have the equipment to work with this."

"If you make a list of all the things you need, I'll get them to you as soon as possible." Alec got up. "I found you an apartment close to here. It's outside of the toxic area, fixed up, and the basics you'll need are already there."

Jason Leech got up too. "What's in it for me?"

"You'll be substantially rewarded when you find a cure." Alec held out his hand.

"And if I say no?" Leech asked, half knowing the answer.

"I'll kill you myself." Alec was matter of fact about it, but Leech had no illusions: He could run and he could hide, but this guy could find him anywhere and would have no problem killing him. He took the extended hand. "Then I think we have a deal mister McDowell."

Alec held on to the doc's hand. "Listed, doc, this virus is really fucking up the life of two friends of mine and I really want it gone, so, in case I forget to do it later: Thank you for coming."

"It's an honour, 494."

Alec decided then and there that he liked this guy. "Just call me Alec, please."

"All right, Alec. When do I start?"

"How about now?"

Alec led the man out of his office, out of Terminal City and into the apartment he'd arranged for the guy. Wile they were walking they discussed the particulars and Alec handed Leech a cell so they could always reach each other. He also guaranteed the man that no transgenic would ever hurt him. When they got there he showed Leech his new apartment. The living room looked normal enough and the bedroom was comfy. The study, however, was a full-on laboratory. Leech seemed to like what he saw.

"Good enough, doc?" Alec asked him, knowing it was more than enough.

"It's better than that." The doc said, seemingly in awe. "I haven't seen equipment like that since back at Manticore."

"Well…" Alec smirked. "I've had to rip off quite a few people to get all this together so I'm glad it's to your approval."

"It's been a while since I've worked on anything this complicated so it might take me a while to figure it all out."

"As long as you figure it out eventually doc." Alec gave him a friendly pat on the back. "You're a brave man for not running when I called you."

Leech looked at him strangely.

"What is it doc?" Alec asked.

"If I'd run, from you, I would've died before the end of the week." Leech was calm enough about it, but Alec could feel the tension the man felt. He shook his head. "Probably not, actually." He smirked at the doc's surprised look. "Oh I would've found you, and dragged you back here whatever way necessary, but I wouldn't have killed you."

With that he walked back to the door, turned around. "Good luck doc." And he left.

Walking back into Terminal City he knew he'd have hell to pay with Max. She had no idea what this Jason Leech business was, and he had no intention of getting her hopes up by telling her he was working on her cure. She'd been hurt by this virus enough and he'd seen how much it killed her when she'd thought she'd found a cure. He wasn't gonna tell her until he knew for sure the cure was found.

But how the hell was he gonna talk his way out of this one?

Sure enough, as soon as he walked into base Max ambushed him. "What the hell was that about?!" She spat at him.

"Hi Maxie, good to see you too." Alec smiled at her but simultaneously grabbed her arm. He pointed towards his office. "In there." He whispered soft enough for only her to hear.

She shook his hand off and stalked into his office angrily.

He followed her in, still not knowing what the hell to tell her.


End file.
